By John Clary Davies

The dreams start in early August. A couple weeks later, the September issue of Powder shows up in my mailbox. By the time I start attending ski movie premieres, I’m about to blow. There’s so much powder in my life, but there’s not actually any powder. And there won’t be for several months. It’s like blue balls of the mind. Or something. I’m like a Labrador whose owner just asked if I wanted to go for a walk, then gets out my favorite ball, except we don’t go anywhere so I can chase it. This can’t be healthy.

So it’s a good thing Mount Hood Timberline reopens regular chairlift operations in late September. Friday’s opening marked the beginning of the 2011-2012 ski season in North America. Sixty miles down the road in Portland, it was 75 degrees. Hipsters rode fixed-gears in jorts and tanks, but up on the glacier, we were reminded what skiing was like. The feeling of flying down a mountainside? It’s as good as I remember it.

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